Trip Reports

Hello whalewatchers: Our final day today was fantastic –great weather, sunny skies, warm temperature, calm seas. A perfect way to end our trip. We have seen bottlenose and common dolphin, dwarf sperm whales, jumping manta rays and enjoyed a great snorkel session at Los Islotes. The highlight there were commorants fishing underwater in a bait ball along with the sea lions, naturally. It was also a great day for Paul and Catherine Cottis — on their 25th wedding anniversary! Many blessings to them. We are heading to Cabo with hopes of seeing something in the next few hours of daylight to finish the trip.
Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers: We had some beautiful weather today- no wind or swell. We took advantage of it in a big way. We could see for miles today and it paid off–11 blue whales, a Brydes whale, long-beaked common dolphin and a ton of birds. We spent lots of time with blue whales today ending the day with a great fluking whale and some lunge feeding as well. There were large areas of red plankton on the surface with bait fish and blue whales feeding on the same source. It just doesn’t get much better than this. Everyone enjoyed the common dolphin– a group of 500-700 animals with lots of calves and clean water to see them. The group alos enjoyed the hike this morning on Isla Catalina. There was great lighting early in the morning for photographing the cactus. We finished the day with margaritas, a buffet on the back deck and some awesome star gazing and bioluminecence travelling south. It was an  exceptional day that we truly deserved!
Looking forward to tomorrow, Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers: We had a bumpy ride last night, but we arrived at Isla Espiritu Santo for the day and had some time in a calm spot. The Sea of Cortez is a wonderful place for anchorages, and fortunately we have a great boat that we can take anywhere with confidence knowing we are safe. Everyone had a great day with a nice walk, a good snorkel session and a skiff ride. We are finishing the day with a great sunset as only Baja can produce.
Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers: Today we were blessed with some great weather and spectacular whalewatching. There were lots of humpbacks around this morning starting at daylight after a great sunrise and some great flukes to start the day. We had a great show with a cow/calf pair with an escort for more than an hour. The calf was breaching repeatedly and the cow and escort were flipper flapping and tail lobbing. All of this within 50 yards of the boat. Everyone got some great photos and video footage. There were multiple whales in the area breaching in the distance. So much to see, it was great! We also saw some common and bottlenose dolphin. Around lunchtime the wind came up and so we went to Bahia Los Frailes. Everyone enjoyed the walk and half the group went for their first snorkel.
More tomorrow, Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers: Today we had excellent conditions with light winds and calm seas, clear skies, and great visiblity for looking. We had a slow morning with just a few common dolphin and some bird life. Two masked boobies were top birds  in the morning. After lunch we started to see more life. There were some groups of sea lions out feeding in deep water. We came across a fin whale cow and calf. We good looks at them. While looking at the fin whales we saw a red-billed tropicbird with great lighting and we were able to get close as well.
A little further south we saw several spouts on the horizon– there were two groups of humpbacks that we didn’t get to because of a blue whale. It was a really big whale and show its fluke regularly. We spent the late afternoon with this whale and had great looks at a blue whale. All in all we a great day with good weather and lots of wildlife. The day ended with a spectacular sunset.
Looking forward to tomorrow with humpbacks, Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers: It was a picture-perfect day in Laguna San Ignacio with light winds and calm seas. There are lots of whales as well.We started our day much earlier today.We had excellent whalewatching with plenty of close encounters for everyone. We had two trips this morning and two trips this afternoon, with an optional beach walk on the last trip.Everyone that went to the beach had a great walk. The last whalewatching group claimed they needed their heads on a swivel to catch all the action. That’s what we call “San Ignacio at its finest.”
We are headed south looking for other whales tomorrow. Today’s photo is a returning panga with a gray whale fluke in the background. Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers: Today we encountered some wind in Laguna San Ignacio, so we had to wait awhile to get out in the pangas. We enjoyed some great whalewatching from the Searcher with a very curious cow and calf! There are hundreds of whales in Laguna San Ignacio with the latest census being a total of 354 whales. Needless to say there were plenty of whales to look at this morning. We got the pangas out for a trip after lunch and there were some close encounters and lots of happy whalewatchers. This place is working its magic.The wind has subsided dramatically this evening and we have a great sunset developing.
More tomorrow. Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers,
We had a great day at Islas San Benito–good weather with mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the mid 60’s. Great for hiking. Plenty of elephant seals and a few Guadalupe fur seals. Osprey on the nest and plenty more to keep everyone busy. A sighting of a brown booby in the anchorage. Looking forward to tomorrow in Laguna San Ignacio. Team Searcher